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This week we review some of last weeks class, and I discuss some topics brought up after class last week.

The book I mentioned is “The Harbinger”.  You can find it here.

Then we continue in Exodus Chapter 23 and make it through to verse 23.

Below are the relevant verses:

Exodus 23 (NIV)

13“Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.

14“Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.

15“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt.

“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.

16“Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.

“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.

17“Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.

18“Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast.

“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.

19“Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

20“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. 22If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.

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This week we continue in Exodus chapter 23, starting around verse 8 and make our way through verse 17.  We discuss modern applications of these ideas (i.e. how bribery effects our judges today.)  Also we discuss laws of Shabbat and the Three Festivals (a.k.a. Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot.)

Exodus 23 (NIV)

8“Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.

9“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

10“For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12“Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.

13“Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.

14“Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.

15“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt.

“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.

16“Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.

“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.

17“Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.

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Hooray! We start a new chapter in this class.  These verses are fascinating because they are so applicable to both our micro and macro world views.  Below are the relevant verses.  If you have any questions, you can share them below in the comments area.

Exodus 23 (NIV)

1“Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.

2“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, 3and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.

4“If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. 5If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.

6“Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.

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This week we get more information regarding some verses from last week’s podcast.  We talk about the history of “7 days” in  a week.  Why the “8th day”?  Also, we discussing some meaningful ideas around kashrut.  Sorry, cannot find the Harvard.edu essay I referenced in the class.

The verses covered are Exodus Chapter 22 from about verse 27 through 31.  The verse numbers may vary depending on the publisher of the Bible you are using.

 

Exodus 22 (NIV)

 26If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, 27because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

28“Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

29“Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats.

“You must give me the firstborn of your sons. 30Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day.

31“You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs.

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In this class there is a bit of a recap as well as some more information regarding the questions and challenges from last class.  Much of the explanation comes from Talmudic sources.  Eventually, we pick up where we left off and continue to verse 30.  Below are the relevant verses:

Exodus 22 (NIV)

(24 in JPS) 25“If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest. 26If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, 27because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

28“Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

29“Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats.

“You must give me the firstborn of your sons. 30Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day.

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One verse?  Yes, one verse is what we cover in this class.  Actually, one of the students sent an email regarding some information on magic and Judaism.  Here is a link if you’d like to read some of it.  I encourage you to purchase the book as you would benefit from contributing to the publisher or author’s trust.  This week the single verse covered is Exodus 22:20.

Exodus 22 (JPS 1917)

20And a stranger shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

וגר לא־תונה ולא תלחצנו כי־גרים הייתם בארץ מצרים׃

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In this podcast I do a little review of the last class, and then we pick up at Exodus Ch. 22 verse 17.  We cover three profound verses Ex. 22: 17, 18, and 19.  While they may seem antiquated, cruel, or perhaps just strange; I think after listening to this class they will hold new meaning which is actually applicable to today.  Below are the verses:

Exodus 22 (JPS 1917)

17Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live.

18Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.

19He that sacrificeth unto the gods, save unto the LORD only, shall be utterly destroyed.

Also,  I would love to hear from you if you have any comments regarding the tangential discussions during class.  No offense was ever intended, so I apologize if there is any lashon hara in the class.  I try to keep it open, honest, and dispassionate when a faith outside of Judaism is referenced.  I truly wish I had  expert believers from other faiths on call for questions during class.

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Apparently you must hit the “record” button to record something.  I did not do that at the start of the class and only caught it half way through the class (thankfully I figured it out eventually.)  So when I got back to my studio I proceeded to record myself giving the class to… myself.

Eventually the podcast transitions to the original class when I finally pressed “record”.  The equipment is only as good as the operator…

This class covers Exodus Ch. 22 verse 6 (as I do a very brief intro) and goes to verse 17.  Below you will find the relevant verses:

Exodus 22 (NIV):

6“If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution.

7“If anyone gives a neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double. 8But if the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges, and they must^a determine whether the owner of the house has laid hands on the other person’s property. 9In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any other lost property about which somebody says, ‘This is mine,’ both parties are to bring their cases before the judges.^b The one whom the judges declare^c guilty must pay back double to the other.

10“If anyone gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal to their neighbor for safekeeping and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking, 11the issue between them will be settled by the taking of an oath before the Lord that the neighbor did not lay hands on the other person’s property. The owner is to accept this, and no restitution is required. 12But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, restitution must be made to the owner. 13If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, the neighbor shall bring in the remains as evidence and shall not be required to pay for the torn animal.

14“If anyone borrows an animal from their neighbor and it is injured or dies while the owner is not present, they must make restitution. 15But if the owner is with the animal, the borrower will not have to pay. If the animal was hired, the money paid for the hire covers the loss.

16“If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. 17If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.

Footnotes:
a 8 Or before God, and he will
b 9 Or before God
c 9 Or whom God declares

 

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Welcome back!  This week we cover Exodus Ch. 21 verse 33 and actually make it to a new chapter… 22 verse 9!  As I mention on the intro to the podcast I apologize for the occasional sniff that you might hear.  I use several microphones in recording the class in order to better record the comments students make.  On this particular class, I guess someone had a cold, and one of the mics picked up a sniffling student.  It is not constant or continuous, and it may not come across in the podcast.  But in an effort to be forthright, I wanted to let you know and apologize for my recording transgressions.

Below are the relevant verses:

Exodus Ch. 21 (NIV)

33“If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange.

35“If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. 36However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.

Exodus Ch. 22

1“Whoever steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it must pay back five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.

2“If a thief is caught breaking in at night and is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed; 3but if it happens after sunrise, the defender is guilty of bloodshed.

“Anyone who steals must certainly make restitution, but if they have nothing, they must be sold to pay for their theft. 4If the stolen animal is found alive in their possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—they must pay back double.

5“If anyone grazes their livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in someone else’s field, the offender must make restitution from the best of their own field or vineyard.

6“If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution.

7“If anyone gives a neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double. 8But if the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges, and they musta determine whether the owner of the house has laid hands on the other person’s property. 9In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any other lost property about which somebody says, ‘This is mine,’ both parties are to bring their cases before the judges. The one whom the judges declarec guilty must pay back double to the other.

Psalm 59 (NIV)